Obama’s Chicago Speech Can’t Address Gun Violence Unless It Takes on Race

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/Zb2OnFYJy3Y/story01.htm

Academic research long ago showed that poverty and institutional racism are at the root of urban crime. Will the president have the courage to say so?
By Michael P. Jeffries

One of the iconic moments of late Bush-era America came when Kanye West wandered off script at a Hurricane Katrina telethon and boldly proclaimed, "George Bush doesn’t care about black people." Despite some obvious political and personal differences between Bush and Barack Obama, the current president has also been criticized for taking black supporters for granted and failing to advance a policy agenda that effectively combats black suffering.

But as the nation’s gun-violence crisis continued this week, President Obama is pushing back on those critics.
Continue reading

Rosa Parks, Revisited

N.Y. Times (Feb. 1, 2013)

Most of what you think you know about Rosa Parks may well be wrong.

By Charles M. Blow

On the verge of the 100th anniversary of her birth this Monday comes a fascinating new book, “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks,” by Jeanne Theoharis, a Brooklyn College professor. It argues that the romanticized, children’s-book story of a meek seamstress with aching feet who just happened into history in a moment of uncalculated resistance is pure mythology.

Charles M. Blow
Charles M. Blow

Theoharis points out, “Rosa’s family sought to teach her a controlled anger, a survival strategy that balanced compliance with militancy.”

Parks was mostly raised by her grandparents. Her grandfather, a follower of Marcus Garvey, often sat vigil on the porch with a rifle in case the Klan came. She sometimes sat with him because, as the book says she put it, “I wanted to see him kill a Ku Kluxer.”
When she was a child, a young white man taunted her. In turn, she threatened him with a brick. Her grandmother reprimanded her as “too high-strung,” warning that Rosa would be lynched before the age of 20. Rosa responded, “I would be lynched rather than be run over by them.”Continue reading

EJAC meeting February 20, 2013

EJAC members and all: This is your friendly reminder of our EJAC meeting on this upcoming Wednesday (Feb. 20, 2013) at 10am. Meeting will be held in the 7th floor large conference room here at NJDEP in Trenton (401 E. State St.).
This meeting is going to be devoted entirely to the discussion of Hurricane Sandy with a presentation
Continue reading

New Book: Living and Dying in Brick City

New Book — Living and Dying in Brick City: An E.R. Doctor Returns Home
by Sampson Davis
sampson davis
It was just before 7:00 A.M. on July 1, 1999, my first full day on the job. Jay-Z blared from the stereo as I steered my old Honda Accord past the White Castle burger joint, toward Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. The neighborhood — a mix of boarded up buildings, dingy brick storefronts, beauty supply stores, and fast-food restaurants — rolled by like a video. Before long, the July heat would draw residents out of their homes to play checkers and cards, children in swimsuits would be dashing through open fire hydrants, and sweaty boys would be swooshing basketballs through naked rims on concrete courts. This was Brick City, my city. I knew its rhythms, and I’d seen its dark side up close.Continue reading

Racism in 2012: Year End Review

Racism Review (Dec. 31, 2012)
Racism in 2012: Year End Review
By Jessie
As 2012 draws to a close, I pulled together some of the biggest news in racism for the year.
Election Politics – Of course, much of the year we were focused on the racism in election politics.